Historical Events
- Aug 2 1st roller skating rink opens (London)
- Aug 14 Society of Regte Afrikaanders establishes in Paarl
- Aug 22 The Treaty of Saint Petersburg between Japan and Russia is ratified, providing for the exchange of Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands.
- Aug 25 Captain Matthew Webb makes first observed and unassisted swim across English Channel (England-France 21 hours 45 minutes)
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 2 Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian artist, born in Veliky Novgorod, Russia (d. 1957)
- Aug 6 Marcel Labey, composer
- Aug 8 Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (d. 1955)
- Aug 9 Albert William Ketèlbey, British pianist and composer (In A Monastery Garden), born in Aston, Birmingham (d. 1959)
- Aug 9 Reynaldo Hahn, French composer, conductor, music critic and diarist
- Aug 12 Ettore Panizza, composer
- Aug 12 Mezio Agostini, Italian composer, born in Fano, Italy (d. 1944)
- Aug 15 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, African-British composer (Hiawatha's Wedding Feast), born in London, England (d. 1912)
- Aug 18 Johan E. Elias, Dutch historian (Amsterdam's regency), born in Amsterdam (d. 1960)
- Aug 19 Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (d. 1936)
- Aug 21 Maurice Lippens, Belgian governor of Congo (1921-23), born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1956)
- Aug 23 William Eccles, English physicist and radio pioneer, born in Barrow-in-Furness, England (d. 1966)
- Aug 23 Eugene Lanceray, Russian artist, born in Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1946)
- Aug 26 John Buchan, Scotland, Gov-Gen of Canada/writer (Battle of Somme)
- Aug 27 Katharine McCormick, American biologist, suffragist and philanthropist, born in Dexter, Michigan (d. 1967)
Famous Deaths
Hans Christian Andersen
Aug 4 Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author of 150 fairy tales (The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen), dies at 70
Hans Christian Andersen